Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954
Atlantic hurricane season. The storm was named by the US Weather Bureau
on October 5. In Haiti, 40% of the coffee trees and 50% of the cacao
crop were lost, and at least 400 people were killed. Hazel struck North
Carolina near Calabash on October 15 as a Category 4 hurricane. It
destroyed most of the waterfront dwellings near its point of impact,
including about 80% of those in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Heading
north along the Atlantic coast of the United States, it caused
$281 million in damage and 95 fatalities. Hazel struck Canada as an
extratropical storm, raising the death toll by 81 people. Its effects
were unprecedented in and around Toronto, due to a combination of heavy
rainfall during the preceding weeks, the storm's unexpected retention of
power and a lack of experience in dealing with tropical storms. Rivers
and streams overflowed, causing over C$135 million of damage. The
storm's name was later retired from use for North Atlantic hurricanes.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Hazel>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1869:
During construction of the Hennepin Island tunnel in St.
Anthony, Minnesota (now Minneapolis), U.S., the Mississippi River broke
through the tunnel's limestone ceiling, nearly destroying Saint Anthony
Falls.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennepin_Island_tunnel>
1930:
The British airship R101 crashed in France en route to India on
its maiden overseas flight, killing 48 passengers and crew.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R101>
1970:
Members of the Front de Libération du Québec kidnapped
British diplomat James Cross, sparking the October Crisis in Montreal.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Crisis>
1986:
Eugene Hasenfus's plane was shot down by Nicaraguan forces
while carrying weapons to the Contra rebels on behalf of the U.S.
government; he was subsequently captured, leading to an international
controversy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Hasenfus>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
plesionym:
(linguistics) A word that is almost a synonym but which has a slightly
different meaning.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/plesionym>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
A human action becomes genuinely important when it springs from
the soil of a clearsighted awareness of the temporality and the
ephemerality of everything human. It is only this awareness that can
breathe any greatness into an action.
--Václav Havel
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Havel>